


On the Tip of My Tongue

by Empress_Of_Edenia



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Allura's the one who asked Keith out unsurprisingly, And I mean everything, Canon Compliant, Dinner Date, Established Relationship, F/M, First Dates, Kallura have trouble not turning everything into a race/dare/challenge, alien pepper soup, but in a fun way, competitive!Kallura, pre established Kallura, spicy food dare, takes place sometime in S3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-24
Updated: 2019-10-24
Packaged: 2021-01-02 11:35:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21161012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Empress_Of_Edenia/pseuds/Empress_Of_Edenia
Summary: Is there anything more nerve-wracking than a first date? Keith's been trying to think of the perfect one for days, especially one that will cater to the princess he loves so much. But once he remembers what always draws them together, it's simple science from there, and that's that neither of them can turn down a good challenge.





	On the Tip of My Tongue

Hunk shook his head before waving his hands and trying to walk away. “Nope, not gonna happen, man. I’m sorry.”

“Please?” Keith asked as he followed after Hunk. “Just make an exception for tonight.”

Hunk turned back around to look at him. “The last time anyone made an ‘exception’ for you two, we found _you_ dangling over the edge of the castleship with nothing but a cable to hold you and she was… ugh, the less said about that the better.”

Keith frowned, the little vein on his temple already starting to throb. “We’re not even going to leave the Castle, this time.”

“Well, good,” Hunk said. “Then you can find something nice, quiet and _safe_ to do together. Try a Disney movie, maybe?”

“That’s not what she wants,” Keith insisted.

He sighed deeply, raking his hands over his face so that he had some control on his flaring temper. The last thing he wanted was to scream at Hunk over this, but if he still wouldn’t give him what he needed, Keith didn’t know what he was going to do.

“Look, tonight is the only free time Allura has in her schedule,” Keith stressed. “Who knows when we’re going to get another chance?”

Hunk tried to avoid Keith’s hardened stare. He nearly succeeded, but it only took a glance for Keith to ensnare him. A quivering, guilty lip later and Hunk was handing over the datapad in his pocket.

“I’m not responsible for anything you burn in that kitchen,” Hunk said.

Keith didn’t give him time to say anything else before he rushed off to get started. “Thanks!” he cried over his shoulder before disappearing behind a corner.

Hunk’s exasperated groan echoed in the hallway.

* * *

Allura sat at the dining table, watching Keith labor over the stove. “It’s smelling better and better,” she said. It smelled spicy, too. If these were the second hottest peppers in the universe, Allura dreaded this challenge already.

“Wait until tomorrow. The flavor will blow your mind,” Keith said over his shoulder. A tear rolled down his cheek and onto his apron, but he didn’t seem to notice.

He gave the pot a few more stirs, then ladeled the hellish food into two bowls before walking to the table. “There you go,” Keith said.

Allura peered at the contents of her bowl. Her nose wrinkled at it, the pungent heat and aroma threatening to burn her to a crisp if she so much as sneezed. But she wouldn’t let him know that. “Is it finished?” she asked as she looked up at him.

“Yeah?” Keith said.

“It seems scarce,” Allura lied. “I would think a supper entree’ to be more substantial than that.”

Keith gave her a look, almost as if he could tell she was lying through her teeth. “You’re right,” he said without any indication that he knew, taking her bowl. He returned it to the stove while he chopped up something fleshy on the cutting board. The meat of a local beast he’d hunted, if Allura had to guess.

She observed him as he cut it into thick chunks and tossed them into the boiling soup. Allura thought adding ingredients would help, but the deadly aroma wafted into the air and filled the room as though it were tear gas. Her heart dropped a bit when she saw him toss another pepper into the pot, giving her a knowing look before he went back to pretending he hadn't just doomed her.

Her ears perked up as he finally returned with the completed soup. It looked so good, she prayed it was actually edible.

Keith blessed her with one of his rare smiles. “Better?”

“Yes, thank you,” Allura lied again.

He sat across from her but didn’t touch anything. Neither of them did, too busy locking eyes with each other as the room thickened with tension. The simulated candlelight was supposed to make things romantic, but it only cast shadows on both of their game faces.

“How are we going to do this?” Allura asked.

Keith shrugged. “Whoever finishes first wins,” he said as though it were the most obvious thing in the universe.

Allura rolled her eyes. “We can make this more interesting, you know.”

“By betting what?” Keith asked with a raised eyebrow. 

Allura smirked, both hands planted on the table. “Loser has to clean the winner’s Lion for the next month.”

Keith mimicked her and stood up so he could glare down at her. “Winner gets the first shot in drills tomorrow.”

“I look forward to blasting you off of the battlefield,” Allura said as she also came to stand.

“When you’re done playing janitor,” he said, grinning.

“Deal,” they said in unison.

They sat down far more aggressively than they needed to. Allura picked up her spoon and sampled her food first, smug in the fact that she beat him to it. “You’re a wonderful chef,” she said. “I hope you can scrub as well as you cook.”

“Thanks,” Keith said. “I love cooking almost as much as I love knocking princesses on their asses.”

“The only arse _you_ will have to worry about is your own. Blue likes her toenails painted,” Allura said.

Things went quiet for a time. Both of them were focused on getting through their bowls of liquid fire, too heated - in both senses of the word - to speak. Allura paced herself through the pain as she saw her bowl emptying. She couldn’t feel her tongue anymore, but at least she was going to win.

Allura looked over at Keith to see how he fared. She gave a gracious laugh when she saw the sweat pour from his forehead. “Having trouble?” she cooed.

“Nope,” Keith said with a mouthful of unchewed food. He struggled to digest it calmly without thinking about how it scorched, from the looks of it.

She shook her head and continued eating. “Let me know if you need a break.”

“I don’t take breaks,” Keith said when his mouthful was gone.

“No, of course not,” Allura teased.

Keith made an indignant sound at that. He tried to spite her by shoveling more into his mouth but wound up hurting himself instead.

'Poor thing,' Allura thought to herself. 'I really should put him out of his misery and declare myself the winner.'

Her cool, collected demeanor faded when she looked into his bowl. "Impossible…" Allura blinked at the near empty dish, so low that she could see the spices and pepper seeds clinging to the bottom.

"Beat that," Keith blurted out. He stared her down with tears streaming from his eyes and a tomato red face.

Allura quickly composed herself, smoothing out her skirt as if he wasn't watching her every move. She said nothing, just raised her bowl to her burning lips and drank the remainder of her dinner. All the while, she pierced him with another glare over the rim. 

'Victory will still be mine-' Allura stopped in her tracks. A solid lump of food slid into her mouth, and it wasn't meat.

"Princess?" Keith inquired with fake concern.

Allura put her bowl in front of her. She sat back in her chair and crossed her arms, refusing to tell Keith that she'd swallowed a whole pepper.

Keith pushed his bowl away and leaned in close to her. "Got something in your throat?"

Allura mumbled at him to leave her be. She wouldn’t let this pepper out of her mouth no matter what he did. She'd rather choke.

He gave her space eventually, but kept his eye on her. "You'll have to get rid of it one way or another." His handsome smile irked her.

She grunted and sulked further into her chair.

"All you gotta do is eat it," Keith said. He wasn't looking at her anymore. He twirled his spoon around on the table with his chin in his other hand. "It’s easy."

"Or," Keith said as his gaze flicked up at her and froze her to the bone. "You could spit it out."

Allura glowered at him as if he'd insulted her entire family. She narrowed her eyes and flippantly turned to face the other way.

He shrugged. "It's up to you."

Keith left the table and put their spoons in the sink. He returned, took his seat and continued to interrogate her. His complexion was back to its usual fairness, while she knew full well hers had turned a deep crimson.

"I think our first date was pretty good," he said.

She pouted and remained silent.

"We talked, we had a nice dinner…" he went on. "And no one got hurt this time. That's always fun."

'For Ancients’ sake, just shut up!' she wanted to scream. The searing, white hot pain made the room around her spin, but she still wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.

"Too bad I'm gonna win, though," he said.

She looked at him as if he had sprouted a horn and two tails.

"Yep," he responded with another infuriating grin. "Better hurry up and finish if you don't want me beating you by default."

She looked down at her bowl. It was still three quarters full, far more than she could put away with this awful pepper in her mouth. Maybe if she just sipped the broth slowly…

"Shouldn't you chew first?" he asked with feigned innocence. "Stuffing your face isn't very regal."

She growled before picking up the bowl once again. A tiny stream of broth flowed through her parted lips before she began choking. The bowl clattered onto the floor and she gripped both sides of the table.

"Allura!? Allura!" Keith exclaimed as he ran to her.

Keith shook her firmly as she doubled over the table. "Damn it, princess! Just spit the pepper out!"

Allura pushed him off, refusing to listen. Her scrunched up face reflected in the table's surface; she went from red to purple, yellow, orange and every color known to man as the pepper incinerated her mouth. From the corner of her teary eye, Allura saw the glasses of water they’d put there as a precaution earlier on, but she refused to reach for hers even in a time like this.

She threw her head back. Allura only caught a glimpse of Keith’s terrified face before squeezing her eyes shut. In one gulp, Allura finally ate the pepper. Not even the stem was left.

"...I'm fine," Allura finally rasped. Her voice was hoarse and raw, but she would manage.

Keith rubbed his eyes several times in disbelief. His getting the pepper's oils in his eyes was all the distraction she needed.

Allura swiped her bowl and, at long last, drank the last few drops of soup.

"You crazy-" Keith started to say after he cleared his eyes.

She slammed down the empty bowl in triumph. Ignoring the pain and mess in the dining room, Allura pumped both fists in the air.

Keith laughed at her cheerful cry. She wasn’t sure if it was genuine or out of bitterness.

"It is okay to lose a challenge every once in a while," Allura said as she sat back down, daintily wiping her mouth.

"Whatever," Keith said with his arms crossed and his expression turned to stone.

"There is no sense in dwelling on it when we are both sore." She then got up and approached him, hands folded in front.

"You wouldn't be so sore if you'd just swallowed the-" Keith grumbled.

Allura silenced the truth by kissing him. "Should we call it a tie?"

Keith hummed in surprise, then leaned into her kiss while his hand found the small of her waist. Their lips tingled with heat as they touched. "Alright, it’s a draw," he said before reaching for his glass of water.

"Thank you for dinner. I enjoyed myself,” Allura said after pulling away.

Keith smiled and this time, Allura knew it to be sincere. "No problem," he said.

"Since we came to a draw on this challenge," Allura said while gathering extra silverware, "what do you say to another one?"

Keith instantly picked up on her implication. "What do I win if I wash more dishes than you?"

"Credibility, I suppose," she said with a shrug.

"Count me in," he said as he followed after her, a bright gleam in his eye.

Allura chuckled and broke into a light sprint. "Don’t be upset if I crush you again."

**Author's Note:**

> Shoutouts to smallkazoo/Ty, imperiality/birmychirp and K-Lionheart for beta-reading this short story for me! 
> 
> [Btw, I have a Pillowfort you can contact me at.](https://www.pillowfort.social/OrcasandMermaids)


End file.
